Delisting Colleges of Legal Studies from TETFUND affects our productivity – Provost

is the Provost of Yusuf Bala Usman Colleg of Legal and General Studies, Daura in Katsina State. In this interview, he speaks on the challenges being faced by the Colleges of Legal Studies following their removal from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund ( TETFUND) and those facing education at tertiary level. Excerpts:

Can you tell us briefly about yourself?

My name is Dr. Rabi’u Abdulkadir Kurfi. I was born in Kurfi and had both my Islamic and western education there. I attended Kurfi Primary School, presently Kurfi Model Primary School. I was admitted into Government Secondary School Funtua in 1975 but later transferred to Teacher Training College, Dutsin-Ma. I proceeded to College of Education, Kafanchan for the NCE certificate and later to Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria for my degree programme after which I came back to Katsina and continued as a teacher, examination officer, senior master and vice principal at Government Science Secondary School, Dutsin-Ma. Later I was sponsored by Katsina State government to pursue Masters Degree in Guidance and Counseling. On my return, I was assigned to the zonal guidance and counseling office in Dutsin-Ma zonal area.

After some years, I left the service of the state government and joined politics. I was elected member of Katsina State House of Assembly under the UNCP but while we were about to be sworn-in late Head of State General Sani Abacha died and his successor, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, cancelled our election.

Following the return of democracy in 1999, I was made the first Administrative Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Katsina. I contested election again and became a member of Katsina State House of Assembly representing Kurfi local government. I was elected Deputy Speaker of the House. After the expiration of my tenure in 2003, I delved into commercial/education entrepreneurship.

I got my PhD while I was in Katsina State House of Assembly. In 2005, I was appointed Chairman of Katsina State Radio and Television Board. Ten years after, I was appointed by the federal government as member of the federal government accreditation visitation panel attached to Federal College of Education, Pankshin in Plateau State. And now I am the Provost of Yusuf Bala Usman College of Legal and General Studies. I took over the college in early September 2013.

As someone who has served on an accreditation vitiation panel, what would you say are the major challenges of education at the

tertiary level?

From the little experience I have in the running of tertiary institutions, particularly college of education, there are a lot of issues related to policies that are becoming problems to most of the colleges in the country. Sometimes a policy can be introduced by government but because of financial constraints or geographical location of some of the institutions that policy cannot be fully implemented by them. Culture, social environment and sometimes region, political involvement and indeed continuity in public policies are sometimes contributing against the progress of our tertiary institutions.

In a situation where a college cannot mount accreditation and pre-accreditation requirements, that college is only likely to produce graduates of NCE who will not be given recognition by the National Commission of Colleges of Education, the Teacher Registration Council of Nigeria, the National Council of Colleges of Education, the Ministry of Education and the SUBEB that are waiting to absorb them into teaching industry.

Another challenge is of course funding. Some regular colleges of education enjoy support from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND). The TETFUND supports the tertiary institutions in terms of infrastructural development; they build workshops, laboratories, hostels and administrative blocks among other structures. But unfortunately for an institution like Yusuf Bala Usman College of Legal and General Studies, we were delisted from the list of TETFUND. And that is why we have to come up with Conference of Provosts of Colleges of Legal Studies to see to the possibility of realigning into the mainstream of our sister institutions. For instance if you go to Isa Kaita College of Education, you will see a lot of projects executed by the TETFUND but here, it is the effort of the state government that is developing and sustaining the college and the burden is too much for the state government to shoulder.

This issue of TETFUND assistance is a serious threat to the colleges of legal studies. When I assumed duty I met a language laboratory here that was built by the TETFUND. It was dilapidated but because we are no longer benefiting from the fund, it did not come to our aid to renovate it. We are lucky the state government recently put in modern facility in it.

On staff training, lecturers of other institutions are befitting from the TETFUND but we are not. So to be honest with you we are left behind and that is why we are calling on the Federal Ministry of Education to consider our situation. In a nutshell the issue of TETFUND is seriously affecting our productivity.

How can you relate this issue to the emergence of unqualified teachers in the teaching profession?

Unqualified and untrained teachers are potential danger to the society because the output they will give will definitely be low and have consequences on their products; but it may not be in the nearest future. So it has devastating effects on these unqualified teachers and the most unfortunate thing is that this syndrome does not stop at the primary school level. Rather, it has penetrated into the secondary and tertiary institutions. So if as a result of cheating such students graduate with NCE, they will go back to the society and continue to teach in our primary and secondary schools and therefore continue rotting the society the more.

Funding seems to be the major factor affecting the productivity of our institutions. What would you say on this?

Funding education is generally a very serious task to any government because education is not a profit-making venture and it is not a venture that requires little money. It is capital extensive; therefore it requires a lot of money. Billions of naira are been spent on infrastructure, examinations and procurement of facilities. On this I must commend Governor Ibrahim Shema for what he has been doing in the education sector in Katsina State. The present administration of the state has done a lot to this college but as the college expands, it needs more funds. For instance, we have recently established a demonstration school; a child laboratory for experimenting teaching practices, teaching observation and micro teaching which we need money to sustain. The type of interventions we are receiving from the state is helping us a lot in moving the college to greater heights. Government has recently provided us with modern facilities and renovated some dilapidated structures including our auditorium.

How are you managing examination malpractice and cultism in your college?

These two vices are serious danger to tertiary institutions in Nigeria and are very prevalent in some institutions. However, here we have a powerful examination malpractice committee which serves as a mobile court. We have empowered the committee to the extent that it can investigate and recommend the type of punishment to be applied on any student found wanting or in exam malpractice. For cultism, I can say our geographical location has helped us a lot because in the extreme north of the North-West we don’t have the culture of cultism. So we don’t have it here.

What are you major challenges in the college?

Well, some challenges may come from time to time and some automatically resolve themselves while some require some actions from either the management of the school or the government. Initially, our major challenge was water and electricity but as Allah made it, we have overcome them.